What is slugging and how do you do it?

Supposedly originally a K-Splendor craze, the phrase slugging appears to have initial surfaced in the United States in a 2014 post in a Reddit subgroup. But it did not go viral right until Charlotte Palermino, a New York Metropolis-primarily based certified aesthetician and co-founder of skin treatment firm Dieux, introduced the notion to her TikTok and Instagram followers in September 2020, telling them it experienced created her dry pores and skin “juicy.” As of push time, the hashtag #slugging has 235.5 million views on TikTok.

Petroleum jelly, which is also known as petrolatum and was 1st marketed by Vaseline, is a white or yellowish semisolid compound created up of a combination of advanced hydrocarbons by dewaxing crude oil. According to Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist and affiliate professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Healthcare facility in New York City, it is an occlusive ingredient: “It kinds a seal over the stratum corneum (outer layer of skin or skin barrier) to defend the pores and skin from the atmosphere while avoiding drinking water decline.”

By forming this seal — which keeps dust and micro organism out and dampness in — the petroleum jelly results in the perfect natural environment to let your skin to fix by itself, Zeichner explained. And, he and Palermino mentioned, slugging doesn’t require a lot petroleum jelly. You can use a pea-sizing part for your entire confront, alternatively than what’s likely on in the video under (you do not want to ruin your linens).

Nevertheless slugging is a new title for it, the act of applying petroleum jelly as a skin protectant is nothing new. In the 15th century, customers of the Indigenous American Seneca tribe, who dug oil pits in northwestern Pennsylvania, used petroleum jelly on human and animal skin to secure wounds, encourage healing and continue to keep the skin moist. In the late 19th century, American chemist Robert Chesebrough, traveling to oil fields in the identical region of northwestern Pennsylvania, observed oil staff applying the residue from their oil drills on their wounds. Chesebrough introduced a sample again to his Brooklyn lab, purified it, tested it on his self-inflicted wounds and in 1870 branded his “miracle jelly” as Vaseline.

When Tiffany Clay, an Atlanta-centered dermatologist, observed slugging remaining promoted on Instagram, she was amused. “I laughed due to the fact I have been doing it my whole life.” Clay credits her “Black grandmothers who slathered Vaseline on my cousins and me when we bought out of the tub.”

Now, Clay finds herself recommending petroleum jelly in her dermatology exercise “at the very least 10 moments a day” — for dry skin, wound treatment, surgical aftercare and “especially for my eczema patients who have a compromised skin barrier and tend to be on the dry aspect.” Signals of a compromised pores and skin barrier can consist of redness, dryness, peeling, flaking, burning or stinging.

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Ranella Hirsch, a skin doctor dependent in Cambridge, Mass., agrees. “I notify dad and mom to coat their children with Vaseline when they initial get out of the tub to seal in the dampness,” Hirsch stated. “We’ve been working with that as normal observe simply because the petrolatum definitely capabilities as a prime coat, trapping in the dampness and preventing transepidermal water reduction.” Investigate has proven that in addition to minimizing transepidermal h2o loss (TEWL), by 99 percent, petrolatum has anti-microbial qualities and accelerates skin therapeutic.

Palermino recommends applying petroleum jelly in a “humidity sandwich” to trap in the most hydration. “In aesthetician university, just one of the first matters you study is you hydrate your skin, you moisturize your pores and skin, and then you lure it all in with an occlusive.”

But simply because of petroleum jelly’s occlusive nature, Hirsch cautions against applying any active substances, these as retinoids, exfoliants or topical vitamin C prior to slugging, due to the fact you could harm your pores and skin. “You can consider an component that is pretty mild, and change it into a little something pretty potent by sealing it with petrolatum.”

While petroleum jelly is deemed non-comedogenic (this means it won’t clog pores) since its molecular dimensions is far too massive to penetrate deep into the skin, Hirsch warned that slugging is not for absolutely everyone. “Generally talking, I do not are likely to advocate it [slugging] for men and women who are susceptible to milia, oily or acne breakouts. I just find occlusives aren’t a superior relationship for them.” Hirsch endorses patch-testing 1st for these pores and skin circumstances and if you are inclined to allergic reactions.

For severely dry skin, Susan Taylor, a Philadelphia-based mostly skin doctor and founder of the Pores and skin of Shade Culture, warns that petroleum jelly, by itself, will not moisturize the skin. “I have my patients put the petroleum jelly over a moisturizer that has humectant and emollient elements.” Taylor also tells patients to apply petroleum jelly when skin is damp to “trap in the dampness.”

The Foods and Drug Administration regulates petrolatum as an more than-the-counter drug and deems it a safe and sound and effective pores and skin protectant when the concentration selection is 30 % to 100 p.c. But the community has a few of fears about petroleum jelly. 1 is get worried about contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are naturally transpiring chemical compounds uncovered in crude oil that have been deemed possible human carcinogens.

The gurus I spoke to explained that even though unrefined petroleum jelly (which is not permitted in the United States) can be contaminated with PAHs, the petroleum jelly you see on the cabinets of your drugstore has been remarkably refined. “Petrolatum is in essence a waste product or service from the petroleum market that goes by way of various rounds of refinement right up until all the impurities have been eliminated,” said Victoria Fu, a skin-care science educator, cosmetic formulation chemist and co-founder of Chemist Confessions, a pores and skin-care line. “Petrolatum has been about for so lengthy and scrutinized by regulators for so extended that refined petrolatum has long gone via the gamut of tests to ensure safety right before it hits the shelves.”

An additional worry lifted by critics of slugging is that petroleum jelly, as a byproduct of crude oil, is not a sustainable item. But Anthony R. Kovscek, a Stanford College professor and senior fellow at the Precourt Institute for Power, reported eradicating product sales of petroleum jelly would do minor to reverse weather improve. “Changing your driving and commuting behaviors, as nicely as driving the most gasoline-effective vehicle you can find the money for is considerably much more probable to have an influence on the fossil gas sector than tamping down profits of Vaseline.”

There are numerous choices to petroleum jelly, such as mineral oils, plant oils and animal waxes. Though Hirsch and Zeichner advocate Waxelene, they cautioned that products other than petroleum jelly are not as occlusive, are a lot more pricey and have threats of contamination.

“Plants are bio-accumulators so one thing like shea butter demands to be extremely refined just before it hits the current market,” Palermino mentioned. And, she concluded, the refinement process creates a substantial carbon footprint.